Four decades of natural resources research in Brazil: A scientometric analysis

Abstract

Brazil holds vast natural resources reserves, but their depletion can cause serious environmental issues on natural ecosystems and human society, such as desertification, pollution, biodiversity loss, and climate change. In this study, we update the perspectives of natural resources publications by Brazilian scientists. We investigated articles in the Web of Science and Scopus databases published until December 31st 2020 using the key terms “natural resource”, and “Brasil” or “Brazil” in the authors’ address field. Data were analyzed using Microsoft Excel, Biblioshiny for RStudio, and SigmaPlot. From the first publication in 1977 until 2020, 3,983 articles were published, totalizing 88,530 citations. A total of 5,950 institutions from 78 countries collaborated on publishing in 1,101 journals, with 13,763 signed authors. Conservation and sustainability were the hot topics cited in keyword analyses, while the Amazon Forest was the most studied ecosystem. Brazilian natural resources’ research focuses on sustainable development, environmental management politics, and strategies to protect biodiversity and cope with climate change effects.

Keywords

• bibliometric; scientific production; brazilian science; natural richness; sustainability